Europe 2nd Week

Saturday 29th September

We bade Spartacus Camp Site in Pompeii farewell along with ‘our doggies’ that we had acquired – Naughty, the puppy and Mommy. Italy has a lot of stray dogs roaming around and there were 3 strays in the campsite plus we saw about 20 strays in the Pompeii ruins. The owners of the campsite actually said that we could take Naughty home with us, but it would have been impossible to get him further than Scotland and we didn’t think my brother would appreciate another dog! My brother has actually phoned us and checked up on our safety right from Botswana through Africa, up until now, so thank you, Trevor.
We drove N along the autostrade towards Rome, stopping once to fill up with petrol – we have discovered that there are 2 prices, if you go to the bowser where there are attendants you pay 3 – 6c (in Euros) more a litre. So we make sure we go to the bowser marked ‘Self Service’ and that means we save about R25 – R50 a tank! Petrol here is now R13.15/l and it costs us around R1 100 to fill one tank!
We traveled about 260kms and reached the N side of Rome at lunchtime where we booked into Flaminio Village campsite N 41 57.575 E 12 28.851 The campsites are wonderful and this one is certainly the best so far, although it is about R260 per night whereas Spartacus was only R110 a night. The ablution here is spotless with piped classical music and a water feature as you walk in. It is all marble with pot-plants to add to the ambiance – there are private cubicles to sit and do your make-up with mirrors, extra lighting and hairdryers etc – very smart!
After making a quick sandwich we caught the bus into the Vatican City – we seem to negotiate Africa better than we do the bus systems of big cities and soon it became apparent that we had missed our bus stop! Anyway getting 3 busses instead of 2, we finally reached the Vatican, where we marveled at the enormity and grandeur of it and the area where the people gather to see the Pope on the balcony. There was a queue snaking in and out and around – maybe a km long - to enter the church, and Dave said ‘No way’. So we went on an open bus tour of the city of Rome which was really magical – the beauty and history within this capital city are just a marvel. Wherever you look, you can see a magnificent bronze statue or a beautiful fountain or an intricate detail on the cornice of a building. The light fittings that one sees on lamp posts etc are also amazing, so intricate and ornate. The bus tour ended at 6pm back at the Vatican and to our delight, we saw that the queue had disappeared, so we went in. I have been here about 25 years ago but it is Dave’s first visit, and I think I am older and more appreciative of the wonder of the structure of this church now, because we were both completely awestruck by the magnitude and magnificence! Visitation closed at 7pm and we spent the whole hour strolling around soaking in the beauty and tranquility. Traveling makes you humble, as you realize what a very tiny place you occupy in the whole wide world!
Next it was the challenge of the bus ride home! The biggest problem was getting started – because we had come via a different route, we were now not sure where to start the route home! Anyway, after walking up and down the same long street a couple of times, we asked some locals and were pointed in the right direction. There was a big soccer game on and so it was even more complicated to negotiate around this – finally we were on the final bus home – totally disorientated, so Dave got the GPS out of his pocket and sure enough, we were heading straight back for Flaminio! In fact we could have helped the bus driver out if he was lost! We got back to camp at 9pm, first a glass of wine and a beer, then we made delicious burgers with mushroom sauce – they really tasted good, I guess because we were so hungry, but they were a fitting end to a magical day.


Sunday 30th September

We woke up at 7am to a crisp clear morning – the weather is really cooling down now, with night temperatures of around 10 deg and daytime of around 20 deg, I think we are getting through Europe just in time. Over this year, my reading glasses have become an essential appendage! I just cannot cope without them anymore – I guess because my arms couldn’t stretch any further! But whatever, I now have to have them on hand at all times to read maps, type on the computer or do my tapestry.
We left at 10am after catching up with computer work and chatting to fellow campers. There was 600kms before us but it was easy driving on the autostrade all day through rolling green hills, sometimes topped with majestic old castles. The lower fields were cultivated, often with tobacco. Later in the day we drove through flat fertile farmlands before reaching Venice near to 5pm, where we stayed at Rialto Campsite.
N 45 29.020 E 12 17.019

Monday 1st October

We woke up and did our last batch of laundry and hung it out to dry before heading off for St Marc’s Square in Venice. Once again, I was here 25 years ago, but it is lovely to be able to pay these beautiful places a second visit in one lifetime! Dave though Venice was ‘very pretty’, but he is a man of few words and quick visits, so soon we were on our way back to our campsite, and we were on the road N by lunch time. I think he is even keener than me to get home to SA!
We went through the most spectacular countryside in the N of Italy and we thoroughly enjoyed our ride. There were dramatic snow capped mountain peaks, picturesque towns – all with their own village church, vibrant colourful hanging flowers in the window boxes, an Olympic ski jump at Cortina, emerald green lakes and trees with all their autumn shades! It was an over exposure of beauty for us to imbibe.
Garfield has been sailing along these European roads like a dream, but today he gave a hiccup or two and Dave decided to change his fuel filter, which seems to have sorted out the problem.
We bade Italy farewell around 3pm after going through one last tunnel of 850m, although we had been through several during the trip – the longest one yet, was 2253m long! We then traveled through a corner of Austria for 1 ½ hours before entering Germany and we are now camped in a lovely German village called Flintsbach at Inntal Camping just 90kms from Munich.
N 47 41.990 E 12 09.494



Tuesday 2nd October

We left at 7.30am as we wanted to get as close as possible to Rotterdam. The autobahn is wonderful and best of all it is free – no tolls need to be paid in Germany. Only the toilets have to be paid for and ‘spending a penny’ takes on a new meaning as it costs us R10 a tinkle! The speed limit is 130km/hour most of the time and trucks are not allowed to overtake – they have to stay in the slow lane – this makes the traffic flow so easily. Germany is ‘perfect’ – there is no litter, no squatter camps and everything is neat, clean, straight and tidy! At the moment the fields are green and the trees are all the shades of autumn - green, yellow, gold and rust.
By 5.30pm we were about 80kms from Rotterdam and we decided to call it a day. We are camped just outside a small village called Veghel and as it is quite fresh, Dave put up all the sides on our awning. So we are really cozy and have been able to work in comfort and pack our lugboxes for the next 2 weeks as we are about to wave Garfield goodbye. I feel quite emotional about all this and do not cope with all this change very well – I feel as if I am leaving my ‘home’ behind and I am all in a dither about what to pack etc. Dave of course just can’t see the problem and has his box all packed and is ready to go! He is always very understanding when I get upset though, and is giving me extra hugs and making me a cup of coffee to cheer me up.



Wednesday 3rd October

We contacted Uda whom we had met at Tiwi Beach in Kenya and he invited us to spend the night with him. It was actually Uda who suggested to us , back in Kenya, that we ship Garfield from Netherlands instead of paying to get him over to UK only to ship him home from there.
Before we left the campsite I defrosted and emptied the fridge while Dave replaced one of the alternators in Garfield – see I spoke too soon about Garfield sailing along - yesterday there was this noise, and Dave identified it as a bearing in the alternator and seeing as he had a spare one, he decided to replace it. Luckily he is able to do all these repairs himself.
Uda lives between Rotterdam and Amsterdam, so he met us at an off-ramp off the highway and we were at his home by lunch time. We spent a lovely afternoon and evening at his home, meeting his wife and son, and we were able to catch up with email and make some phone calls about the shipping of Garfield. We hope to see Uda & Analies in SA one day.



Thursday 4th October

Everything has worked out so well, I just can’t believe it? We arrived at Hoegh Autoliners in Amsterdam at 9.30am to discover that a ship is leaving for South Africa tomorrow! Within one hour they had done the necessary paperwork and we had been escorted down to the terminal where we quickly rearranged the boxes on the roof, putting them inside. The ship was waiting on the dockside and we left Garfield in the front of a queue to be loaded later today. We did not need to pay one cent at this stage – all costs will be paid in Durban when we collect Garfield in 3 weeks time! By 10.30am we were getting out of a taxi (that they called for us) at the train station to catch a train to Hoek-van-Holland.
We reached Hoek-van-Holland at 12.45, bought our ferry ticket to Port Harwich in England, and left on the ferry at 14.45!! It was a really smooth journey and we landed in Harwich at 8.30pm where Mike and Debbie Elbrow (ex Tablers from Pmb) were waiting to meet us. It is wonderful to see old friends and we had a great evening, going out to dinner and then on to a pub where we drank ‘Adnams’ beers!